The Invasion
by Glampyra
Summary: The world is dead. Everyone is either diseased, or a zombie. There are only 10 of them left: pure, untouched to the disease. However there are a few left. Beasts. Dead in between, not quite dead but not quite alive. And they're hunting them down. Better than it sounds.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello watchlings. Yes, this is another 9 story. Humanized! If any of you have read my other story "Meeting 10" Or "The first life" Then you're familiar with 10 and (Probably) 11. They will appear in this story.**

**I go the idea for this story after reading a book called "The Enemy" By Charles Higston (or something like that) This story is gonna follow the 9 plot, but with alot of changes.**

**Enough procrastination!**

**XXX**

The first thing he felt when he woke up was a peircing pain in his arm. He opened his eyes groggily and looked around. He was on his back, out of the corner of his eye, he could see a window. The walls were brown wood. He was in somebody's house. He sat up, wincing as the pain increased. Looking down, he saw the source of the pain: A large syringe sticking out of his arm.

He pulled out the and dropped it on the floor. Now without the syringe in his arm, he could get a better look at the room; it looked like a small workshop. He found that he wasn't lying on a bed, it was a desk. There was paper shattered everywhere, as if a child had come in and threw them everywhere. There was a doorframe with it's door barely hanging by its hinges in front of him, in the door frame was a body. His heart skipped a beat. The body was on its side, it was gripping a handgun.

_'Why would he need a gun here?'_ He thought to himself.

Slowly, he got out off the desk. His legs were slightly wobbily as he rose up, but he advanced toward the body. It looked fresh, Save for the gaping, bloody hole that was in its chest.

"No need for him to have this" He murmured as he bent down and pried the gun from the corpses hand. A few bullets fell out, he picked them up and put them back in the cavity. Three bullets.

He heard a groan.

His eyes flashed back to the corpse. Was it still alive?

"Sir?" He said "Are you alright?"

He didn't get an answer, just another groan.

"Sir?"

The corpses eyes shot open, revealing an ugly white film over its eyes. It lunged at him, dragging its body and growling at him like an animal. He shouted in terror and scooted his body back until he hit the one of the leg's of the desk. The zombie snarled at him and dug its hands into the floor, what was left of its body left a trail of clotted blood, a mixture of saliva, blood and puss spilled out of his mouth in a red and white foam.

His heart was about to pound of his chest. He looked around frantically for the gun, which he had dropped when the zombie lunged at him.

He saw it right next to the zombies hand. He'd have to act quick if he wanted to keep his own hand.

He kicked the zombie in the arm, it screeched and collapsed, which gave him enough time to reach the gun.

The first shot, he missed completely. His hands were too shaky and he pulled the trigger too early. The second one it him in the shoulder, causing the zombie to shriek in pain again. It advanced closer to him, snarling and hissing with rage. It threw its body on to him, about to take a bite of his face when he shot the final bullet.

It went clean through its eye. The zombie froze then collapsed in front of him. His breathing went back to normal. He was about to examine the corpse when a large gust of wind blew the window partially open. He stood up but hesitated, as if he were expecting another zombie to attack. But he still limped to the window.

Outside was a wasteland of barren roads and bodies. The air smelled faintly of rotting meat and feces. Looking a bit in the distance, he saw someone walking, carrying something on its back. He was about to call out but stopped himself. It might be another zombie, wouldn't want to draw attention to himself.

He stepped over the body and walked into the hall. He _was_ in someones house. All the blinds were drawn and most of the lights were dimmed. Every single door was closed.

He turned the doorknob and walked outside , careful not to run into any zombie . The town was eerily still, everything was so abandoned. Where did everyone go?

There was the sound of footsteps nearby. He froze and listened. Nothing. Turning around, he saw who made the footsteps.

In front of him was a man in his late teens, early twenties. He had dark brown hair, pale skin and red, bloodshot eyes. He wore gloves that reminded him of Freddie Kruger. He was covered in several scars, parts of his skin was bruised and infected. There was no film over his eyes.

"You..." The stranger said "You're pure...thought we wiped you guys out..."

"Pure?" He asked.

"Yeah, pure" The stranger repeated, walking closer towards him. Quick and agelic, like a cat.

"Name" He demanded.

"E-Elijah" He said.

"Well, Elijah. Boss don't like Pures walking around here, this is our territory now. Can't you tell?" He gestured to a few zombies who had been walking by, completely ignoring them.

"So" The stranger continued "You got two choices: You leave, or you become one of them"

Elijah's eyes darted from the stranger to the zombies. He _would_ leave if he just knew where to go...or if he at least knew where he was...

"Suit yourself" The stranger said when he took too long to answer. He sunk his teeth in to Elijah's shoulder. He screamed, but the stranger suddenly let go, howling in pain. Elijah's Shoulder burned like fire. He saw that the stranger had been shot with an arrow, it was lodged in leg. The stranger fell to its knees, looked in the direction of where the arrow had come, growled a little, and bolted off. Limping.

Elijah let out a shaky sigh. He felt his shoulder, it stung to even touch it. looking at it was just as bad: the stranger had bit through his flesh like it was butter. He could see the raw muscle underneath; it was bleeding ferociously.

The pain was unbearable. His head started swimming, he lost all sense of direction.

The next thing he knew, the floor was rushing up to meet him.

**A/N: So yeah, this is just a preview, so don't expect another chapter any time soon. I wanna start this story after I finish Meting 10.**

**Glam out!**


	2. Chapter 2

Elijah stayed on the ground for a while, loosing and gaining consciousness every now and then. He saw someone walk up to him, limping, was he hurt?

The next thing he saw before blacking out was someone else shooting the limping figure in the head.

**XXX**

When he finally woke up, he found himself tied to a bed by his wrists and ankles. His shirt and jacket were stripped off and there was a bandage around his chest and shoulder. It didn't hurt as bad, but it was still tender. He was in a small alcove like room, except it was too large to be an alcove. There were several lamps and lanterns hung around, giving it a yellow glow. There were many medical instruments hung un the walls, a few of them spattered with small drops of blood. The doorframe was hidden by a rotting curtain. It all looked very creepy.

He turned his head only to be faced with someone else holding a knife. He gasped and tried to squirm away, the ropes digging painfully into his flesh. The stranger put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright" He said "You're safe now"

Elijah relaxed a little. This boy was no older than him. He had dark orange hair and a single brown eye. A leather eye-patch was over his left eye. He was wearing a brown jacket with two large buttons on the front.

"Where am I?" Elijah asked.

"Away from The Barren Lands" The stranger answered "I'm Kyle by the way" He sighed "You're lucky that Walter found you before the infection could spread. It made it easier to cut it out"

"What?! Cut what out?!

"You're shoulder. We had to cut out the bitten flesh, It wasn't too deep though. You're lucky it didn't crack the bone. We would have had to amputate..." Kyle started cutting the ropes "Sorry about this, When Oliver saw you, he thought you were diseased, insisted on tying you down. Just in case"

"I saw dead people" Elijah said "They were walking around everywhere..."

"We call them Risers"" Kyle asked "You don't know?"

"Know what? I woke up today in someone's house" He shivered a bit "One of those risers were with me"

"Was that the one who bit you?" Kyle asked.

"No, it was another-"

"Oh good, you're awake!" Another voice rang through the air. In the doorframe was a man, somewhere in his 50's. He had brown-grey hair, most of it hidden by a grey bowler hat. brown eyes and rectangular glasses. He wore a starch, long sleeved shirt under a brown vest with a black bowtie. He had a gun strapped onto his belt and a crossbow in his hands. He walked into the room and gave the crossbow to Kyle.

"Thank you for letting me borrow it" He told him. He pulled up a chair and sat next to Elijah.

"I'm Walter." He greeted "Are you alright? That was a nasty bite you had"

Elijah's eyes widened "You..." He said "You killed that man. Y-you shot a bullet right through his head."

Walter sighed "I had to, he would have killed you if I didn't; that man was a Riser"

"Kyle told me what they were called. I don't know anything about them though"

"Well ask away then, I can fill you up to date"

"Alright then...What _are_ Risers?"

"Zombies" Walter answered plainly.

"Are they all dead?"

"Most of them" Kyle said.

"What do you mean 'Most'?"

"Some of them are just diseased" Walter said "Haven't you heard of the epidemic?"

"What epidemic?"

Walter went blank for a minute. He didn't know what to say.

"A-a while back" He tried to explain "There was-"

"Hey what is this? A secret meeting?"

There were two newcomers in the door frame. One of them was a man who looked a bit older than Walter. He had almost white hair with the faintest hint of red to it, he wore a dirty white jacket held together with two buckles, a red cape and a tall crown with the number 1 inked into it. He held a staff in one of his hands that had a jagged curve at the end along with a small bell.

The other one was a young girl around 11 or 12. She wore a red dress that was slightly sun bleached at the top and tattered and faded around her knees, dirty white knee socks that looked like they haven't been watched in a while and flat Mary-Janes. Her dirty, oily hair was pulled up into a pony tail. They shared the same dark blue eyes. It was the girl that spoke.

"Oliver, Samantha" Kyle greeted "We were just about to get-"

"Cut the crap Cyclops" Samantha snapped back. Oliver put a hand on her shoulder as if to silence her and walked up to Elijah. He put his hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. After a while, he put his hand down and nodded towards Samantha.

"No fever" He told her "He's safe"

Samantha immediately ran up to his side.

"Word behind the curtain is you don't know what the Risers are" Oliver said. Elijah nodded.

"Maybe we can explain it better than those nuts and bolts" Samantha said, referring to Walter and Kyle.

The two opened the curtain and walked out the door, gesturing the three to follow them. They obliged.

Waiting outside the door was a nearby elevator and the biggest man Elijah has ever seen. He was over 6 feet tall, almost 7 feet. His arms and legs were like small boulders. He had dirty blonde hair and dark green eyes. He wore a beige Chook hat that hung loosely on his head. He wore wooden shoulder pads and a magnet hung around his neck. He was sharpening a large knife.

"Bruce" Oliver said. The giant looked up "Take us up"

The giant, Bruce, nodded and stood up. Oliver and Samantha went in first, then Walter and Kyle. Elijah went in last. Bruce came up behind him and whacked him into the elevator. He landed on the floor with a hard thud, all of the wind knocked out of him.

"You alright?" Kyle asked as he helped him up.

"I think I got whiplash" Elijah gasped. Samantha Laughed.

"Nice one Brucie" She said, hi fiving the gargantuan.

The elevator was a giant pulley mechanism that had to be turned physically. there where two tools to operate it: One was a lever to lock the elevator on each floor, and the other was the crank. Samantha pulled the crank to one side, The gears could be felt under their feet as Bruce turned the crank. Elijah watched the light move downwards as they moved upwards. His eyes darted from face to face. His eyes landed on Oliver and Samantha. They were glaring at him like he was a menace to the human race. Well, Oliver was; Samantha was glaring but she was...smiling too.

It wasn't a long ride up. Just a few stories. They arrived in a large room. They were in a cathedral. The room was lit by candles and lanterns. There were two chairs in the middle of the room: One of them was a simple kitchen chair with a broken rung and a pillow with papers stuffed underneath it. The other one was a lopsided couch. On one side of the Couch was a large drawing. Although he couldn't make it out. He could have sworn that he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned around he didn't see anything except a small alcove. A shadow moved then dissappeared.

Oliver lit a torch.

"It all started with the disease" He started "it starts off with symptoms of a common cold: Sneezing, sweats, shivers... but after a while the disease becomes stronger: You grow hives that turn into boils, bruised patches all over your skin, and afterwards, you remember practically nothing of your former life, and all you can think of is feasting on human flesh. The air became toxic, and soon once you die, you come back. Might as well stay diseased..."

_Gunshots and screaming were heard overhead. Outside, Risers, both dead and diseased roamed outside. The Living shooting every one they could see. Some of them not even Risers. Oliver, Samantha, Bruce, Walter and a small, raven haired boy found shelter in an old house. Someone knocked the door, causing everyone to jump. Oliver looked through the peephole._

_"They're back" He said as he opened the door._

_Behind the door were two teenage girls. One of them had a light tan, blue eyes and long pale blonde hair tied in a braid. She wore a white jacket that was held together with a button half way. The other one was slightly taller than her, She also had a light tan but long, loose brown hair with eyes to match. She wore a sleeveless shirt held together with several straps with orange rolled up shorts. There was the number 10 written messily on her right thigh._

_"We found the others" The blonde girl said as the brunette motioned some one to come. twin children walked in, a bit older than Samantha. They had blonde hair, grey eyes and wore identical blue hoodies. They were boy and girl. Kyle followed after them._

_"How many Risers are out there?" Walter asked. _

_"A lot" The Brunette answered "More than yesterday"_

_"Than we'd better move before they take this place as their own too" Samantha commented._

_"And where do you think we should go?" The girl asked to her, her little sister. _

_"Anywhere but here"_

_"There's a buncha empty land out the city" Bruce said "We could go there"  
_

_"And leave us exposed to the Risers?" Oliver asked "Why don't we just throw ourselves to them then?!"_

_"What choice do we have?" Walter asked calmly "We can't stay here, we'll surely be caught sooner or later and if-"_

_A few Risers knocked the door open. Behind them were about 20 more. Oliver grabbed a small hand gun and shot a few in the head._

_"Run!" He shouted. Everyone obliged._

_Kyle tripped on a stray piece of rubble. A riser was on top of him in no time. The Brunette girl heard his screams and went back to help. She knocked the Riser over and crushed its head. Only for two more zombies to come and take its place._

_"Kyle! Dani!" Samantha called._

_"Sam! GO!" The girl, Dani, told her. She didn't listen. She would have ran after her if Oliver didn't grab her by her shoulder, preventing her._

_A Riser grabbed Dani and Kyle. Then another, then another. One of the Risers took Kyle by the head and clawed out his left eye. He screamed and violently kicked the zombie off of him, but the damage was already done. Dani grabbed him by the shoulders and all but threw him back to the group. Only to be dogpiled by the remaining Risers, one of them bit her in the chest, then dragged her away._

_"Dani!" Samantha screamed. She tried to pry Oliver's grip off, but couldn't._

_"Samantha!" Samantha looked up painfully, tears in her eyes. Oliver shook his head solemnly._

_"It's too late" He said "She's gone"_

_Samantha looked petrified. She looked where her sister was taken, she could hear her drowning wails outside. She looked down for a bit, not knowing what to do._

_"Alright" She finally said "Can you carry me?"_

_"Of course"_

_Oliver picked her up and carried her to the rest of the group. He passed by the blonde girl, She glared at him and shook his head. Her point was clear as crystal: "How could you? Leave her like that like she was nothing?"_

_She would never trust him again._

**XXX**

"I led us here" Oliver stated, lighting a candle "To safety" He walked along the wall, illuminating the few pictures that hung. Some of them drawn by Samantha, others weren't. He stopped in front of the drawing that Elijah saw when he first came in: It was an ink painting of the same man that bit him. Except he looked much more beastly in the painting.

"Now we wait for The Dead in between to perish" Oliver concluded.

"Dead in between?" Elijah repeated.

"I came up with the name" Samantha said "It's supposed to be a pun. It's when you look like you're a zombie but you're not. It's different from being diseased though. When you're Dead in between, you're not diseased at all"

That made sense...sort of.

"Where did the Dead in between come from?" Elijah asked.

"That isn't important" Oliver said "What _is_ important is that we stay hidden"

"But why?" Oliver scoffed and brushed him off and walked back to the thrones, Samantha at his heels. Kyle tapped his shoulder and shook his head. Indicating for Elijah not to push any further. He didn't listen.

"Would it kill you to answer just a simple question?" He asked. Samantha gave him a nasty glare.

"Why won't you just listen to me?!"

Oliver turned around sharply. Slamming his staff onto the floor. It was terribly loud in the usually quiet cathedral.

"If you know what was good for you, you would keep quiet" He hissed in a way that sent chills up Elijah's spine. They spent a short time staring at each other. Although to them, it felt like an eternity.

"Take him to the watchtower" He commanded Kyle and Walter "Show him what I mean"

The two nodded and walked back to the elevator. Bruce went back to his shift.

Oliver sighed and sunk back into his throne. He glanced at Samantha, who was drawing something on a piece of paper.

"What's that?" He asked her. She looked up a little.

"Nothing" She lied "Just...doodling..."

He frowned and held out his hand "Give it here"

She rolled her eyes and gave the picture to him. It was a picture of him, her and the rest of their family. Her father, mother were crossed out. Her sister was circled with a question mark on it. Oliver shook his head.

"Cross her out" He told her, giving her back the paper "I already told you, she's gone"

Samantha nodded. Somewhere inside of her, she still felt that Danielle was still alive. Even though it was impossible.

She crossed Danielle out.


	3. Chapter 3

The trip to the watchtower wasn't very long, only a few stories up. Elijah looked around more., he saw that there were other people. Some of them were doing chores, but most of them were just lounging around. He noticed a group of people were crowded and towering over a bed.

"Those are other survivors" Kyle explained "some of them are people that find us here and others are survivors that were here before us. Oliver doesn't want us intertwining with them"

"What are they doing around that bed?" He asked.

"Checking on one of their own" Walter answered sadly "She's gravely ill"

"Oh man...what's wrong with her?"

"We're not sure..." Walter looked down a bit and squeezed his eyes shut, like he was about to cry. He stopped pulling the crank and Kyle pulled the lever.

"Go on without me" He told them as he opened the door and stepped out, his voice quivering. He walked slowly to the crowd; they noticed him and made room for him to walk through. Elijah caught a glimpse of a sick woman on the bed. Her skin toned slightly grey and the whites of her eyes slightly yellow. He also noticed that none of them had numbers. Walter, Kyle and the others had numbers. Walter, Kyle and the others including himself had numbers: Kyle had 5, Samantha had 11 and Elijah himself had 9. come to think about it, what did those numbers mean. He was about to ask Kyle when they suddenly stopped. In front of them was a doorway.

"Here it is" Kyle said as they walked out of the elevator. He opened the doors dramatically, revealing a sort of balcony. On the balcony was a telescope. Elijah could see for miles. The sun was going down and more Risers were coming out. They were everywhere: Milling, standing around, some of them were trapped and others were actually fighting one another.

"Walter and I come here everyday" Kyle told him "It's sorta fun to watch the dead Risers fight the diseased ones...like free cable, except you can't change the channel."

"How can you tell the diseased ones from the dead ones?" Elijah asked.

"Sorta hard" Kyle admitted "But usually diseased zombies would have this sort of rash or covered in growths and pus"

"Ew"

"Yeah, I know. And zombies are...well, you know what they look like. The best way to tell diseased from dead is that the dead ones have a white film over their eyes"

"Yeah I noticed" A bit of wind picked up and Elijah shivered, hugging his shoulders, only to feel bare skin. He looked down, gasped and tried to cover himself. He wasn't wearing a shirt! That's must have been why Samantha was looking at him like that on the elevator.

Kyle started laughing "I thought you knew" he said through a fit of giggles.

"If I knew, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed" Elijah told him, which made Kyle laugh even harder; a few of the Risers below stopped what they were doing and turned their attention toward the watch-tower. Kyle stopped laughing.

"Oh Jeez" He said "That caught some attention, I forgot they can still hear us"

"Even up here?"

"You'd be surprised how good they hear; it tells them where their next meal is."

"Hm..." Elijah walked torwards the edge of the balcony. The zombies were everywhere. Some of them were missing their entire face. Others were so bloated from pimples and growths he couldn't see any facial features. A few risers were a little more than skeletons while others resembled the Boomer from...that was that game called...? Left 4 dead.

"Oliver doesn't like coming up here" Kyle said suddenly "He says it's a waste of energy and time. I just think he doesn't want Samantha to see all this... If you ask me, that's like trying to hide sacred treasure with plastic wrap..."

"He's really protective of her" Elijah noted "She his daughter?"

"Close, Niece. Her dad got diseased and her mom got bit. He took her and her sister with him when they ran away. Her sister didn't make it."

"Was Oliver always like that?"

"As far as I know. He is sorta a...pain where the sun don't shine, but you get used to it afterwards. Every group needs a leader after all"

"But what if he's not the right leader?"

"Then he'll do his best. Better have a "bad" leader than no leader at all"

Elijah sighed, looking out at the walkers.

"I hope you're right Kyle..."

**XXX**

Walter stroked The sick women's hair. She was a younger than him, but no one could tell anymore: her hair was short and fluffy, like brown cotton candy with streaks of grey. Her once fair skin was now shaded a slight grey. her cheeks were slightly concave, not having eaten in a while. The whites of her eyes were a pale yellow. She was cradling her right arm, which was wrapped in a bandage that had already bled through.

"Sawyer" Walter whispered, trying to get her to stay awake. She was getting worse by the minute, he knew she didn't have a lot of time left. She grimaced.

"Walter..." She rasped "Please, stay away from me...I could turn..."

"You won't" Walter insisted, even though they both knew it was a lie "I'll make sure you don't turn."

"It's too dangerous..."

"No it's not! Look, Kyle is busy with the new lad, and I'm not busy for the rest of the day. I can stay with you, right here. I can make sure you're alright."

"You don't have to do that"

Walter sighed "Don't you remember?" he took her right hand and rubbed the wedding ring that matched his own.

"'Till death do us apart"


	4. Chapter 4

The factory was a mess: The machines and computers were long since unused, most of them covered in a sheet of dust and cobwebs. The only sign of life were the diseased and dead bodies of the former workers, and the rats.

A rather fat rat scurried out of a hole in the wall. A diseased riser, a woman by the looks of it, pounced on it. It shrieked and wriggled in her tight grasp, she licked her lumpy, chapped lips and sunk her teeth into the rat, silencing it. A hand lay on her shoulder.

"Save your appetite Margaret" The owner of the hand said "We'll find some bodies soon"

The riser, Margaret, groaned and dropped the rat, crawling away to find another one. The stranger picked it up, ripped it's stomach open and stuffed his face with its warm, slimy guts, slurping it down like spaghetti. The stranger was about 6 feet tall, dressed in various shades of grey, grey straps were wrapped around his chest and arms, large leather flaps were attached to his arms, giving the impression of wings. He had dark brown hair and blood red eyes. A purple bruise crept across his jaw line and near the corner of his mouth. He wasn't alive, but he wasn't dead or diseased. His name was William, William Harsting But The Wardens called him their kind Halfways. He and his friend called them "Halfies"

"Ugh" A voice behind him spat "You frickin' vulure..."

William smirked and turned around. Biting off the rat's head and crunching it like a hard candy, feeling the warm brains squish into his mouth, between his teeth.

"S'not being a vulture when it's the only food available" He walked towards his insulter. She was sitting behind a fallen support beam, her knees tucked into her chest. She was eating a can of nectarines, She held up her half eaten can.

"What about this?"

"That's crap food"

"It's _real_ food!"

"No. The living ones, The Pures are real food now" He sat himself next to her, She scooted away. The girl had dark chocolate colored hair, a light tan and dark brown eyes that seemed to sparkle even when she was angry. She was wearing a leotard with thick black straps and dark orange shorts. The number 10 was written on one of the thighs. Her name was Danielle.

"Those things are people!" Danielle said as she spooned some nectarines into her mouth "Not food for you and the other Sickos here"

William smiled "Y'know...one of those "Sickos" is the father-"

"Shut up! We don't know yet...! Not for sure..."

"So there's a chance"

"..."

"Ugh...just don't talk to me..."

"Am I interrupting something...?"

The two teenagers turned around only to see a tall woman looming over them. She was around 40. Like William, she had red eyes, but she had platinum blonde hair and pale pinkish skin. She was smiling, but it looked about as friendly as a snake. Blood was dribbling down her mouth. Danielle scoffed.

"What do you want Tess?" She asked bitterly. The woman, Tess, frowned then shook her head. Almost everyone was afraid of Tess. She was the groups Seamstress, making all of their clothes and patching up their old ones. She herself was a Halfy. They found her when she was being chased by Risers. She was bit on the tongue by her diseased husband, her children and brother had already left by then. She managed to sew the wound shut, but her mouth always bled when she spoke.

"That's 'Mom' to you Young lady" Tess said. Danielle rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"You're not my mother anymore..." She grumbled. Tess rolled her eyes and glared at her bitterly. But she ignored her former daughter and turned her attention to William.

"Darius and Nex want you in the Throne room" She informed him "Fallon is waiting for you"

William's heart jumped and his stomach flipped. Nex and Darius were their leaders. They were the very first Halfies. If they called someone to see them, it usually meant they were in big trouble.

**XXX**

William opened the door to the throne room. Inside, he was met with another boy inside. He was wearing different shades of grey; all spotted with different shades of dried blood. He was deathly pale with bloodshot eyes and red scars on his face, mirroring whiskers. He had a nasty looking bruise on his neck and was missing his right eyelid, the skin around it was rotten and infected. A bandage was tightly wrapped around his thigh. His name was Fallon.

In front of Fallon were two older men. One of them was dangerously thin and had slicked back black hair and almost paper white skin. a deep scar ran from the point of his widows peak to in between his eyes. He had two similar scars running through his eyes, one of them missing, and two smaller ones across his face and on the corners of his mouth. He reminded William of the Joker, or Jeff the Killer, more like it. The thing that scared William the most was that underneath his blood-free clothes, he had a deep, bloody, infected wound that went from his collar-bone down to above his crotch.

The other one was more gruesome looking: He had a belt with different hands tied onto it. Most of them fresh, but some of them were covered on gunk and maggots. around his neck and wrists were a slimy string of eyeballs, all different colors. He was wearing leather shoulder-patches made from human skin. Bandages were wrapped tightly around both of his arms up to his shoulders. He wore another necklace around his neck, the only thing not gruesome about his "armor". It was a small round object with strange symbols craved onto it. On his back, he wore an oxygen tank on his back with about a dozen more next to his throne, a tube was attached to his nose, allowing him to breathe correctly. He too was missing an eye.

Behind them were two huge bookshelves that were turned into cabinets. William didn't know what they put in those cabinets, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"William" Darius said, not even looking at him "You decided to show up"

"Not like a really had a choice" William said. Darius raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"Not like a really had a choice _sir_"

"That's better... Now, you're probably wondering why we called you in hm?"

"A little bit sir..." Fallon replied. Darius didn't answer immediately. Instead he leaned forward, gripping the arms of his throne. He glared at both boys.

"Why are we here?" He asked them. Neither boy answered. When they took to long, Darius smacked his fist in this throne and stood up.

"Because we're beasts!" He exclaimed "We're living but we rot like the dead. We think like the living but eat what the minions eat! We're just halfway between dead and living"

"Halfies" Fallon murmured.

"Exactly. But survivors don't like any of us roaming around: Halfway, diseased, dead. It doesn't matter to them! They just think we're nothing more than little threats, like scabs on your arm"

"But there much more of us than them" Nex butted in "And Father and I have found a faster way to make them turn than just a bit or scratch... What is the one thing that keeps humans pure?"

Fallon and William looked at each other, neither of them had a clue what they were talking about.

"Souls!" Darius exclaimed "Human souls" He ripped off the necklace with the round object on it and showed it to the boys.

"See this? This is a Talisman. It can suck out the souls of any human, kills them immediately... Care for an example?"

The boys looked at each other. Example? Is that why they were called in?

"What do you mean?" Fallon asked. Nex stood up and walked to a door and opened it. A woman toppled out. She was tied up tightly, her mouth was covered by a muzzle, the type that were used for dogs. Nex took off the muzzle. She sucked in a lung full of air and screamed bloody murder, writhing like a snake.

"Let me go!" She screamed "Let me go you goddamn animals!" Nex muffled her insults with his hands.

"Shut up you!" He said "No one here can hear you anyways... Dad!"

Darius pressed the three symbols in the talisman, they glowed bright green. He pressed it against her forehead. Her thrashing became even more violent the second the talisman made contact with her. A second later her body stiffened, then vibrated, like she was being electrocuted.

Then she went limp.

Both boys watched in horror at the performance in front of them. Nex smiled and dragged her body next to his throne.

"Don't worry about her" He told them "She won't be turning anytime soon"

"So you see what it does?" Darius told the boys. They nodded.

"What do you want us to do with it?" William asked. Darius put the talisman in his hands.

"Remember that little group of survivors about half a mile north? Get them. They're the only group for miles; after them, we'll leave this place and take the others out. Understand?"

The boys nodded "Understand"

"Good. Now get out of our site and make yourselves useful"

The boys obliged immediately; they ran out of the room. Fallon tied the talisman around his neck as he ran. He ran out the door, William in his tail. He was almost out the door when he hesitated a bit. He turned around. The woman had finally turned. She was snarling and drooling. Nex had a foot pressed against her chest, pressing a large kitchen knife on her neck.

"Just out of curiosity..." He said "Who was that woman...?"

Nex sliced the woman's head off, grabbed it by the hair and handed it to Darius, who opened one of the cabinets. William couldn't believe his eyes: Inside those two cabinets were heads. All of them were stacked neatly ear to ear, Cheek to cheek. They were all in various stages of decay. Some of them used to be diseased, He could tell by the flaky rashes and the deflated boils. They were all snarling and wheezing; some of them starting to eat each other.

Darius placed her on the second shelf then carved a name under her.

_Riana_

Darius chuckled and patted Riana's cheek.

"My wife"


	5. Chapter 5

The room was covered in drawings from floor to ceiling. Ink was running down the wall from a few fresh ones. All of them were of a round, three symbol object. Occasionally there was a stray picture of someone (Or something) on the corners. Other than the drawings, all that the room had was a small cot, a blanket on the floor and a girl in the corner.

A trap door opened at the head of the cot and a boy stepped into the room, a bloody bucket in his arms. He had jet black hair, wore a dirty striped shirt with splashes of ink here and there. He wore black jeans and a key around his neck; his right eye was a dark grey and his left eye was a light hazel, almost gold. The girl turned around and hissed softly; the girl also had black hair but had peachy grey skin, freckles and a strawberry birthmark on her right cheekbone. The birthmark blended almost perfectly with the rash that was growing on her face and up her neck and arms. Her face was decorated with nests of green ingrown boils. A rope was tied to her waist and she was drooling a bit. The boy smiled.

"Hi Cyril" He whispered and showed her the bucket "I brought you dinner"

He spilled half of the buckets contents onto the floor: a hand, a foot, a large chunk of meat that looked like it was part of a torso and a mess of pink goop that was once a brain.

The girl, Cyril, dived in, sinking her teeth into the meat. The boy watched lovingly, unfazed of the horror in front of him. Cyril looked up at him and made a gargled screeching noise. The boy shushed her.

"You have to be quiet Cyril!" He whisper shouted "If Oliver or Samantha find you they'll kill both of us! Please be quiet"

Cyril looked at him with empty eyes.

"Thank you" He wrapped his arms around her, careful of her teeth. His name was Crispin, Cyril was his sister, 17 years old. She got sick a few weeks before. She found the church after Oliver had settled them here. Normally anyone who came here before them lived upstairs where they couldn't bother them, Oliver called them strangers; but Cyril came down anyways. She wanted to be with her little brother. They didn't see much of each other before the disaster. He had lived in a sanitarium since he was 9. This year would have been his fifth year there. Cyril visited him a lot. He escaped after patients and doctors got sick and turned into Risers.

It was different for Cyril though, she was sick but she was still his sister no matter what state she as in. He loved her and he knew she did too.

**XXX**

Fallon and William were in an abandoned house near the church. A pit stop as Fallon called it, William just thought it was slacking off. After all, Darius had told them no slacking off...or at least he thought he did.

Him and Fallon had been best friends since middle school. William's dad walked out on them and his mom was no better. When he was 11 he ran away and lived with Fallon's folks for a while. The Zombies got to their house and Fallon's folks were eaten. The boys were bit. After that they were found by Darius.

William had no idea where his mom was now. And to be honest he didn't give a crap.

There were two dead teenagers in the house when they got there. Partly eaten by Roamers (That's what the Halfies called zombies). There weren't any signs of decay, so they helped themselves.

Fallon ripped off one of the teenagers' heads, took out his knife and stabbed it into her forehead, He yanked it up; the poor girl's skull opened like he was opening a can of beans, exposing the pink grey brain; Fallon grabbed a piece and slurped it like he was eating jello.

"This is so cliché" William said "Braaaaaaaaaaaaainnns..." He threw his head back and gurgled. Fallon laughed and fake screamed.

"Oh no zombie! Don't eat my brains!" He threw the left over brain at him, leaving brain juice splashing on Williams' face and onto his clothes. Fallon laughed and looked out the window, looking at the church.

"So what's the plan?" He asked. William shrugged.

"I dunno... get a bunch of dead guys and sick guys and ram through there?"

"They'll wipe us out for sure"

"Not if we're careful"

"That's what they said"

"What?"

"...Nevermind... actually... I think I have an idea..."

**XXX**

"This is the "cafeteria" Or it should be"

Kyle was showing Elijah, who had changed back into his shirt and jacket, around the cathedral. All the doors and windows were locked at sundown (Oliver's orders). There was electricity in the church, but everyone was ordered to use oil lamps, torches and candles when the doors were locked. The strangers up stairs didn't follow their rules.

They had built extra rooms in the church: A cafeteria, a little classroom that every kid (Including the stranger kids) had to go to. The classes were taught by former teachers in the Strangers' group and Walter.

The extensions also included a small library that looked like they took all the books they owned and stuffed them in the shelves.

"This used to be Michael and Vinnie's hang out" Kyle told him "Before they ran away"

"Who are they?"

"A couple kids that used to live here, they were a couple of twins who got sick. They came here with their sister Megan, she was Danielle's best friend. She wasn't very happy with Oliver's system so she ran away. Once the twins got better they ran away to find her. We went a search party but we didn't find 'em"

"Dang... I'm sorry"

"It's okay"

"Did you say they got better?"

"Yeah. Took us by surprise too. They looked awful: Their eyes all yellow, covered in growths and rashes...It wasn't pretty. But then one day, they started getting better. Just as randomly as the disease appeared. They couldn't talk anymore though, sounded like they had the worst case of laryngitis known to history. I just hope they're still alive... Do you have any family?"

"I..." He looked into space. He didn't know where the heck his family was. Maybe they're still alive: His mom, dad, his two brothers...

"It's okay" Kyle said "You don't need to talk about it. Well... that ends the tour. C'mon, dinner's almost ready, you can get to know the rest of us and probably get on good terms"

**XXX**

Dinner was made up of baked beans, creamed corn, and homemade dinner rolls (They must have been made by Samantha since they were slightly softer than hockey pucks). The dining room was lit by numerous oil lamps on the walls and what seemed like an infinite amount of large candles around the floors, all in their own little containers. The meal was eaten in silence. Awkward silence.

"So..." Elijah said, trying to break the awkward tension, the other nine looked up.

"What were you like before...the dead were walking around?"

No one answered for a moment (Oliver actually glared at him as if he was making a scene)

Eventually Walter answered.

"I was a science teacher at Amelia Earhart Elementary school" He answered "My neighborhood was evacuated and my family got separated"

A moment later Crispin spoke up, he must have been the shadow Elijah saw when he first got here.

"M-m-my friends died in their rooms" He said "They came back afterwards...Mabel got sick and she attacked one of the nurses, the nurse was dead...but she came back... I got out and found my sister Cyril. Mom and Dad were dead..." He fell silent and chewed on his dinner roll.

"I went to Saint Barbara's High school" Kyle answered quietly "Me and a couple kids from different classes were camping out in the red block, that's what we called the theater classes, and there was a guy who couldn't handle everything... some girl found out he hung himself in the back...when they cut him down... it wasn't pretty..."

Bruce leaned back in his chair, his plate already clean.

"I was comin' back from classes when I saw a buncha guys crouching near my apartment" He said nonchalantly "I thought they were some drug Junkies hanging around, then I found out they were eating another guy. I ran away in record time"

Oliver and Samantha stayed silent for a while, for a second Elijah thought they weren't paying attention, then Samantha started talking.

"My dad got sick" She said "When he was at his worst, my mom came to tell him goodbye, we thought he was gonna die. Instead my mom comes running out with her tongue bleeding and my dad running out like a zombie maniac" She nudged Oliver with her elbow "Uncle Oliver here took me and my sister Danielle with him, my cousins and my aunt. We got attacked a little while back, We got separated and my sister got killed... then we found this place so... happy day!"

Elijah looked at them then looked at his plate, feeling awkward again. He could see Oliver whisper something to Samantha and point at him, she nodded and looked at him wearily.

Well so much for getting on good terms...

**A/N: 'Sup! This chapter was shorter than I wanted to, but oh well. Next chapter'll be better. Peace!**

**-Glampyra**


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